The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan

BEST-SELLERS - The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn

SYNOPSIS - The Forsaken are loose, The Horn of Valere has been found and the Dead are rising from their dreamless sleep. The Prophecies are being fulfilled - but Rand al'Thor, the shepherd the Aes Sedai has proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn, desperately seeks to escape his identity.

But Rand cannot run forever. With every passing day the Dark One grows in strength and strives to shatter his ancient prison, to break the Wheel, to bring an end to Time and sunder the waves of the Pattern.

And the Pattern demands a Dragon.

FL Speak - [contains spoilers]

Coming back to WoT, The Great Hunt is the book 2 of the epic journey of Rand al'Thor and his friends. If you've read the first book, I know you're quite eager for this one. If you've read my review of the first book [which is highly improbable], here's how book 2 begins...

First of all, Rand al'Thor has channeled the One Power by the end of Book 1 and the Forsaken are once again loose in the world. For those who dropped in here by mistake and are wondering what Forsaken are....well, they're the Dark One's minions. Once upon a time they were the most strongest wielders of the One Power until they were corrupted and turned to the shadow. The last Dragon Reborn then chained them up along with the Dark One in the prison of Shayol Ghul.

Got that? Good. So you all now know that Rand has channeled. And he's desperately trying to keep it a secret. Because when a man channels, he very soon becomes mad and wrecks havoc on the world and dies, if not already captured by Aes Sedai and stilled. Because a free man wielding the one power will save the world and doom it, according to the prophecies. Rand keeps it secret from Perrin and Mat as well and when he gets the chance to travel with them to find the Horn of Valere, he immediately tags along. What is the Horn of Valere? No am not explaining that. Just know that you need to find the horn before the final showdown against the evil Dark One.

This book explores other characters in details as well. Perrin for one, has a secret that is equally awesome and dark. Egwene and Nynaeve are preparing themselves to be Aes Sedai. And we get to hear about the Seanchan for the first time. What was once fun and laughter for the Two Rivers folk, suspicion and duty threatens to break them. Rand al'Thor will realize the price of failure if he does not accept his destiny. But accepting his destiny will mean the end of the world. And with every passing day the Shadow grows stronger.

One of the best lines in this book comes in the final few pages. The chapter "The Grave is no bar to my Call" gave me the chills. The Pattern demands a hero. Can Rand al'Thor step up to madness and his death?

Probably the best book of the entire series. By the end of this book, they've stopped running for good. And Book 3 takes the fight to them.